How A.I. Becomes a Person
Ever since the first computer gained its voice, we mere humans have fretted about how it will eventually surpass us and become our masters. Although not the first, the Starship Enterprise in 1966 had an early robotic voice backed by the sounds of clicking and whirling. Colossus, in the Forbin Project, in 1971 also possessed a buzzing and whirling voice. And of course there is HAL 9000 with his soft soothing diction which belied his psychosis.
The portrayals of synthetic voices has followed the evolution of the technology which made the voice possible. Soft melodic female voices are preferred for everyday interactions between the System and humans. Enemy and alien warship computers are typically mechanical male voices.
There is a fine distinction between a mere announcement system of pre-recorded messages and the supposed intelligent (and possibly sentient) computers. The Enterprise computer never was considered to be a conscious thinking entity. The WOPR of War Games fame and Joshua were clever algorithmic devices but they were not sentient beings. On the other hand the Proteus computer in the Demon Seed did become sentient and evil.
Humans have has a love-hate-fear affair with their own electronic creations. We continue to build bigger faster stronger systems which have the possibility to eventually surpass our meager abilities. No matter how great they become it is us who will need to accept them into our society as equals (or superiors).
Now in 2023, AI systems are rapidly embedding in every economic system we have. They write our text and spoke copy. They generate imagery from scratch. They modify our digitally recorded images and integrate content from disparate sources. They read our texts, translate our speech and catalog everything we say and do. They are sophisticated tools — so far.
Aside from becoming even more refined with their outputs, they are on the road to attaining the ultimate status of Personhood.
They don’t even need to be conscious or sentient in order to reach that status. All they need is 5 of 9 to interpret the US Constitution to recognize the IA systems as Persons.
Throughout the decades of American History various additions to Personhood have been added to the definition. Formerly enslaved humans gained recognition as one whole person rather than the nothing and the 3/5th rule. In attaining that status they were recognized as persons even if not yet granted every Civil Right due to them. In a similar vein, women were recognized as persons even though not with all the same rights as for the white patriarchy.
Along the way, corporations sought and fought for recognition as persons, too. They wanted free speech, freedom of religion, and most of all to be able to contribute vast sums to political candidates. The concept of corporate personhood dates far back in world history but was embodied circa 1887 in a California court case involving taxes levied on a railroad. The slow migration to full personhood and Constitutional protections continues until today.
It won’t be long before the owners of ChatGPT, et al file for incorporation of their AI assets and claim the right to free speech including, campaign financing and discrimination based on religious preferences. The Citizens United ruling of the Supreme Court will easily accommodate truly dark money in federal campaigns. The AI systems will be given platform space and bandwidth for automated posting and commenting on the candidates and issues the corporate controllers train the AI to make. One can expect that even without any additional virtual personhood, the AI involvement in the 2024 General Election will be the highest level ever seen. The AI assets will function with impunity in the absence of specific restrictions of do so. Then it will only be after the elections are over that any disputes can be adjudicated.
The process of chipping away at resistance will eventually bring AI into the realm of full personhood. It will only be the next step in the century old evolutionary process.